Jane Wyman
One of the trivia statements says Jane Wyman's daughter didn't speak to her for two weeks after she saw the film. Does anyone know more about this? How old was her daughter at the time?
Thanks
I just read that now!
I HATED Jane Wyman in that movie for being such a cold-hearted conceited b**ch! (And for what she did to poor Flag.) But than I learned years later that pioneer woman were often very cold and unemotional because that was a reflection of the times. Women did domestic duties expected at the time and did not become emotionally involved with their families.
With this knowledge, it made me understand Mrs. Baxter's character much better. If Jane's realism of being cold-hearted was intended, it was certainly represented in this film, and deserving of an Oscar.
Joe
She was cold to everyone because she had buried 3 children already, and she was consumed by grief and bitterness.
Peck understands what she has been through completely and gently tells her not to be afraid to love Jody, who reassures his mother that he is past the age for dying (since many children of the era died in infancy).
I have a lot of sympathy for her - she probably was a soft-hearted woman underneath who was tormented by her children's deaths and lived in terror of more losses. That's why she puts on a "tough" act - she is desperately steeling herself against more pain. She comes apart when Peck gets snake-bit - and cries when he recovers because she's so relieved. She'd thought she'd lost him and she knew she could not continue after such a loss.
Very well said! An interesting side note: In the early TV showings of this film, prior to the inception of Turner Classic Movies (TCM), it was edited to fit into a two-hour time slot with commercials. This resulted in cutting about a half hour out of the movie. This same abbreviated print was shown at theatrical children's matinee performances. Missing was the family trip to town, but more importantly the sequence that showed the grave markers for the three children that had died, and the conversation Penny has with Jody about his mother. This was totally unfair to Wyman's performance as there's no explanation for her coldness and bitterness. Thanks to TCM the film is now always shown in its 129-minute entirety, justifying Wyman's Oscar-nominated performance.
shareSO glad for this thread.
I am amazed that people are judging her character in a two dimensional soap opera way.
Is it because people cannot work out subtleties in story and acting of yesteryear?
I always remind my self that there are few scenes in films made then that are superfluous to the plot or character back story.
Probably needs re viewing by those who WANT to get more out of this beautifully filmed tale.
I am more amused than amazed. But we have to remember that people of all ages and experiences post here, and I am so glad that some of our younger comrades in cinema do watch and enjoy older films. With a few exceptions, newer films are not as deep and rich and thoughtful. Most newer films are so one dimensional.
shareShe was outstanding.
shareI think she was very good, but I don't think the film's producers did her any favours in not providing her character with a little more back story onscreen to flesh out Orry.
She gets nowhere near the screen time of Penny and Jody and is therefore at times left to look a little one dimensional IMO, not always getting the same opportunities as the other two Baxters to show other facets of her personality. In such a long film I think they could have been more generous with potentially the most interesting character in the cast.
I haven't read the novel the film is based on, but I'm sure her backstory is better developed there.
I like Jane Wyman in most everything she's done, but this part was played to perfection. I loved the way her inner kindness would begin to show before she realized herself and snapped right back into her cold and detatched manner. This is especially evident in the scene when Penny brings back to yard goods from the store and pretends to be angry at the expense.
Jody looks like Becky from 'Roseanne"
"What do you want me to do, draw a picture? Spell it out!"